Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: City Council recently took steps to support cabbies and ride-hailing drivers, but some worry it may be too little too late.
🗞️ Plus: School board election spending balloons, Aragon Ballroom turns 100 and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Cubs trounced the Twins, 10-1; the White Sox beat the Blue Jays, 3-0; the Sky were defeated by the Dream, 93-91.
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⏱️: A 7-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Partly sunny with more widespread smoke and a high near 86. An air quality alert is in effect through Monday night.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Amid changing industry, Chicago cabbies and ride-hailing drivers struggle
Reporting by Kade Heather
Taxi troubles: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, major commuting pattern shifts have hurt taxis and ride-hailing services in Chicago. Then there’s the emerging threat of autonomous vehicles looming over both. Still, cab drivers have had the roughest road to navigate as the industry evolves.
Cab costs: The competition from ride-hailing apps has sharply reduced the demand for cabs and therefore the value of taxi medallions, the government-issued permits required for taxis. In Chicago, the price of a taxi medallion peaked in 2012 at nearly $400,000, according to city data. Now, they go for about $5,000, which has left many Chicago cabbies in significant debt.
Fare hike: City Council last spring raised cab fares by 20%, the industry’s first hike in a decade. A few weeks since the increase went into effect at the start of the month, one driver told the Sun-Times that while they see the hike as “positive” — as long-overdue help to keep up with ride-hailing competition and skyrocketing costs — it may be too late.
WATCH: CAN CHICAGO SAVE TAXIS? ▶️
EDUCATION 🍎
Spending in school board election exceeds $1.8M as limits lift in race for board president
Reporting by Mila Koumpilova and Sarah Karp
Running total: Campaign fundraising in the race to serve on the city’s first fully elected school board is picking up momentum, with $1.8 million raised since last October and contribution caps now lifted in the competition for president.
Looking closer: A WBEZ and Chalkbeat analysis of money that candidates received from Oct. 1, 2025, to June 30 found the majority of that total – $1.2 million — went to people running to lead the 21-member board.
MUSIC 🎶
Aragon Ballroom marks 100 years of dancing, music and everything
Reporting by Selena Fragassi
Music memories: For a century, there’s only one place in Chicago that can make you feel like you’re in a Moorish castle courtyard during a rock concert. It’s where you can watch shows from fancy alcoves, marvel at a star-studded ceiling and feel the excitement of the ground moving as 5,000 people jump to the same beat. It’s also where you might have seen Two Door Cinema Club on the same night 39 years after your parents saw the Ramones.
History lesson: Opened July 15, 1926, during the height of the Roaring ’20s and Prohibition, the Aragon was built as a sophisticated dance hall where you could pay $0.90 to waltz along to big bands like the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. Over the years, it has hosted ballroom dancing, a roller rink, disco and boxing matches.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- 5K continues despite air quality: More than 850 runners joined the 20th anniversary of the Chinatown 5K Saturday, undeterred by days of hazardous air quality that caused cancellations of many outdoor events.
- U.S. bombing of Iran expands: The U.S. conducted a new round of airstrikes early Monday targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member, the Associated Press reports.
- Man pulled from lake dies: Justin Kramarczyk, 39, died after he was pulled from Lake Michigan Thursday in Streeterville near the Playpen boating area.
- Police on ICE: City officials were summoned to a testy City Council committee hearing Friday to provide answers about the delayed implementation of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s order directing Chicago police to investigate potential crimes committed by federal immigration agents.
- St. Vincent’s new dimension: The Grammy Award-winning guitar shredder will bring her genre-defying show to the area this weekend, collaborating with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Flooding solutions: Murphy Westwood of the Morton Arboretum, Nina Idemudia of the Center for Neighborhood Technology and Bre’Shaun Reddick of the Alliance for the Great Lakes discuss community-level solutions to Chicago’s flooding problem.
- Finding their voices: We meet Altamira Fulton of Vocal Team and Liz Jackson of the Voice Lab, two vocal coaches helping trans Chicagoans develop voices that match their gender identities.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- How to make friends: Where are you meeting people? What qualities do you look for in a new friend? WBEZ’s Erin Allen, 1000 Chicagoans founder Nate Hiser and callers weigh in.
MUST-READ COMMENTARY 🗣️
- Rummana Hussain: Artist Mehreen “Lali” Khalid captures the broader picture of South Asian and Muslim immigrant communities.
- Marc H. Morial: The federal bipartisan housing bill is just one step toward expanding homeownership,
- Rich Miller: The Illinois Republican Party is trailing badly in midterm cash.
- Scoop Jackson: As usual, FIFA brings the drama, good and bad, to the World Cup.
- Neil Steinberg: One bad Apple (update) can spoil the whole week.
FROM THE PRESS BOX ⚽🏒🏀⚾
- World Cup watch party: Dozens of soccer fans gathered at Harrison Park in Pilsen to watch a livestream of the World Cup final in which Spain bested Argentina, 1-0.
- Bedard signs new contract: The Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard signed a new five-year contract that carries a $15 million salary cap hit. His agent gave us an inside look at the cornerstone center’s contract talks.
- Summer League dispatch: The Bulls’ Caleb Wilson is a summer winner after dazzling in Vegas, writes Joe Cowley.
- Shaw shuts out rumors: Cubs utility man Matt Shaw knows his name is churning through the rumor mill with the trade deadline two weeks away. He just doesn’t want to hear about it.
- Newcomb comes through: Veteran lefty Sean Newcomb keeps coming in clutch for the White Sox.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 1A: Chicago Sky player ___ Stevens
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Silver Room Block Party returns to showcase city’s rich Black art scene
Reporting by Erica Thompson
The Silver Room Sound System Block Party made its official return Saturday, demonstrating a wide range of Black art at the Salt Shed.
Performers ran the gamut, from Piwa, a young, alternative Zimbabwe artist who sang an unexpected but delightful cover of Betty Davis’ 50-year-old funk song “Nasty Gal,” to the newly formed Black Opera Ensemble, which belted out African American spirituals as well as traditional opera selections by Mozart and Bizet.
Later, the same stage would be graced by the Red Clay Dance Company and legendary rapper Big Daddy Kane.
Showcasing that diversity of Black talent at an event historically considered a house and hip-hop institution was a goal of its founder, Eric Williams. And it’s a major reason why he decided to bring the party back after announcing its end in 2023, after a 20-year run — especially during America’s 250th anniversary.
“It’s just reclaiming what being American means,” said Williams, 56, who owns the Silver Room boutique in Hyde Park, where he also lives. “If you think about American culture, mostly it’s Black culture. The block party has been a celebration of music, art, dance and our contributions to this country.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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